25% of Nigerians take pride in the nation’s abundant human and natural resources – NOIPOLLS

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A new poll released by NOIPolls has revealed that Nigerians take pride in the nation’s abundant human and natural resources (25 percent), cultural diversity (17 percent) and peaceful co-existence (13 percent), amidst other factors. In addition, Nigerians rated their social interaction amongst the various ethnic groups in the country at 7.5 points on a scale of 0 – 10, where 0 represents “no interaction”, while 10 represents a “high level of interaction”. This rating implies a very positive social interaction among the different ethnic groups in Nigeria and further corroborates findings from NOIPolls Personal well-being index which portrays a high level of satisfaction of Nigerians regarding their social interaction. 

While Nigerians take pride in the nation’s abundant supply of human and Natural resources, most of these resources are yet to be exploited and fully maximised. For instance renewable and agricultural resources have the potential to create jobs and opportunities for alleviating poverty. Therefore, the onus is on the government to harness these potentials through sustainable development strategy and implementation. This should involve diverse stakeholders, especially private sector entrepreneurs, to convert opportunities in to economic activities to achieve significant job creation, income generation, poverty alleviation and inclusive economic growth and development; to improve the wellbeing of Nigerians. These are some of the key findings from the Patriotism Poll conducted by NOIPolls in the week commencing September 18th 2017. 

Brief Background

Diversity which is a key element that clearly defines the true soul and strength of Nigeria has been regrettably overlooked in recent times. Nigeria’s development and drawback hinges is her unity in diversity as she is the only nation of the world with the highest population of Black race.[1] The only nation with more than 250 languages and diverse ethnic groups, yet have remained one and indivisible nation[2]. In line with this and in view of the 57th Nigeria Independence Day celebration, NOIPolls conducted a survey to understand the current stance of social interactions and patriotism among citizens. 

Survey Findings

From the poll, respondents were asked what makes them proud and happy to be Nigerians and findings revealed that a fourth of the country’s population consider the abundant human and natural resources (25 percent) as a major factor that makes them proud of the country. This is not surprising considering that Nigeria is the most populous African country, commonly known as the giant of Africa. Also it has been reported that apart from petroleum, Nigeria is also rich in other natural resources such as natural gas, tin, iron ore, coal, limestone, niobium, lead, zinc and arable land etc. This is followed by respondents who mentioned ‘cultural diversity’ (17 percent) and ‘peaceful co-existence’ (13 percent) among others.

In a Nation like Nigeria with huge cultural, religious and ethnic diversity, positive social interaction between various ethnic groups is key to maintaining a harmonious society. With this in mind, the level of social interactions among the Nigerian populace was polled and findings revealed that the nationwide average rating on social interaction in Nigeria on a scale of 0 to 10 (where 0 represents no interaction and 10 represents a high level of interaction), stood at 7.5, which reflects a very healthy and productive social interaction among Nigerians. Additionally, analysis of results across gender revealed that the average ratings on social interactions between males and females from different ethnic background stood at 7.8 and 7.2 respectively.

Consequently, analysis of social interaction ratings across geopolitical zones showed that the North-Central zone (8.0) had the highest social interaction rating in Nigeria and this was closely followed by the South-East zone with a rating of 7.9. Also, a closer look at the age-group category reveals a sequence of increasing social interaction as the age increases.

In conclusion, the poll revealed that Nigerians are mostly proud of the nation’s abundant human and natural resources, cultural diversity and peaceful co-existence that exists within its enormous ethnographic heritage, amidst other factors. Also, the poll has clearly shown a high level of social interaction amongst Nigerians despite cultural, religious and ethnic diversity. These finding therefore highlights positive tools for strengthening the various campaigns on unity and peaceful co-existence among the citizens by Government and other stakeholder groups.